September 4, 2013

How to Dye your hair Platinum Blonde

I LOVE platinum hair. I think it's gorgeous. I have wanted that color hair since I was little. Alas, I had golden blonde hair that eventually turned to dish water blonde in Junior high because of the lack of sun getting to it. So, I started dying my hair with box dye in middle school. I dyed it golden blonde until college and then I wanted to go lighter, much lighter. I went to a Toni & Guy and they charged me pretty much a car payment for it to look like a light blonde. It still wasn't the white/platinum blonde I was looking for. I tried several different places and it always looked too golden or brassy to me. Then eventually people kept telling me I couldn't get it that light. What they don't tell you is they can't dye it more than 2 shades lighter than what you already have. They don't want to risk having all your hair fall out, understandable.

6 years ago I got my hair professionally dyed brown for the first time. It looked healthy, shiny & well, great. I liked it. But I didn't really feel like me. I colored it between brown and blonde off and on until recently, I went for red. It was ok for awhile. My Mom is a red head.... but I just didn't like how it brought out the red in my face.

I went back to blonde and was ok with the color. Then I came across THIS POST on...you guessed it Pinterest. It was almost a step by step process of how to get platinum hair. Now, it doesn't give the measurements and most of the products I had to buy online... I purchased the Wella from Amazon
& 20 volume from Sally's. The rest I bought from sleekhair.com I couldn't find them at any local beauty supply stores. I searched a whole Saturday for them.

Now, in the blog it says this should be done by a professional. I mostly agree. Since I have been dying my hair myself for over 15 years and my Mom has been dying hers well....multiple decades I was pretty sure we could handle it especially since she had bleached/highlighted my hair before. So, if you follow this recipe, do so at your own risk. You might want to do a swatch test or consult with a professional. It's not fun when you burn all your hair off, have an allergic reaction or your hair turns orange instead.

This is my hair before^

I am the type of person who usually doesn't like getting my hair done professionally. I just don't feel comfortable in that environment and I am usually not that thrilled with the results. I like learning how to do things myself and of course....saving money!! All the items I purchased with shipping were close to $80, but you can use most of them multiple times. OK....so here is how I did it.

You will need a plastic non metallic mixing bowl, gloves, and maybe a comb to brush the product through your hair if need be. Everything else in the picture (above) is optional.

Like the blog said I mixed Wella Blondor & Volume 20 developer together.

I mixed these two in a 1:1 ratio. 3 scoops of Wella Blondor to 3 scoops of 20 Volume developer. This was to dye all of my hair.(75ml = 3 scoops) PS. I have a lot of hair. You will need less if you are just touching up roots or doing highlights. Mix it thoroughly. It's that easy, now you have your hair dye.

Now you don't actually have to buy the exact same lightener (Wella Blondor). There are a lot of lighteners out there that lift up to 7 shades. I just wanted to use the exact one that the blogger recommended. Maybe, I will try a few different ones out myself. Until then, I still have a lot of uses left out of this one.

(Wella Blondor powder)

I sectioned my hair in to four quadrants, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. We dyed my hair in the center moving down and then started on one of the bottom sections, only dying the regrowth or hair at the scalp. We finished the bottom and then worked up to the top quadrants, outlining those sections and so on, until all of my roots were covered. I then covered my hair with saran wrap to keep my body heat in so that it would activate the chemicals. You could probably use a shower cap if you didn't mind getting dye on it. I've noticed my hair takes the color better when I do this, it is optional.

It looked like this lovely pic above. ^ I left it on my hair for 45 minutes (15 minutes to apply and 30 to develop). We then started applying the dye to the rest of my hair, not really any system to it just globing it on. But make sure you coat your hair well. You can brush it through if you like but you are on a time constraint.

This is how it looked after we finished applying all the dye. I wrapped my hair up again and let it sit for another 15-20 minutes. I checked on it every five minutes to see how it was developing.

I then shampooed my hair thoroughly, towel dried & brushed it. Honestly, it looked fairly orange so no worries. This is where the toner comes in handy. Seriously the best thing ever.

Then we applied a toner to get all the orange and brassiness out.

Next mix Volume 5 developer with Paul Mitchell's UTP. I used 2 oz of UTP (almost the whole tube) to 2 oz of the 5 developer. It's a little hard to find these two items. I had to eventually purchase them online. I don't know any substitutes you can use in replace for them yet.

It looks weird at first (above) But it should turn in to a creamy mixture. We liberally applied that to all of my hair. It took only five minutes to apply it. I let it sit for 25-30 minutes, it was taking a lot to get out the orange color. :( I suggest checking it after 10 minutes.

Times may vary for you just keep checking on it. If you wash it out too early you can always wait another week and tone your hair again. I got back in to the shower to rinse and condition my hair (Do not shampoo). I used WEN Ginger Pumpkin Cleansing Conditioner. I think this is a great conditioner for bleached hair because it doesn't strip your hair of its natural oils.

This is the finished product. It looks a bit white at the roots and around the face which I love, and it slightly tappers down to a light blonde.

I have to say after years and years of dying my hair I am finally happy with how it looks. No more brass locks for this girl.

If you have any questions or if you feel I left anything out let me know. Again, I am not a professional I am simply telling you how I did it.

Enjoy!

** I have since posted an update on what I use now and the upkeep HERE!

1 comment:

My natural hair colour is a light blonde shade with a lot of yellowy golden tones in it. After reading your post I decided to try the toning portion only, since I assumed my hair didn't really need to be lifted. I left it on for about 5 minutes and ended up with a gorgeous icey shade a little greyer/greener than yours (think Elsa's shade from Frozen), which is exactly what I have been wanting! It looks gorgeous! I caution people who have lighter hair to constantly stay close to the mirror and not add the toner to the roots. I can easily see this turning light hair a gaudy green-grey shade and make the roots look white or nonexistent, if left on too long. Anyways, fantastic diy I love not having to go to the salon every 2 weeks (toner will fade within 2 weeks, on average, in comparison to dye. It makes it a headache for touch ups.)

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